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Watford v Arsenal (2019-20)
| next = }} Watford v Arsenal was a match which took place at the Vicarage Road on Sunday 15 September 2019. A Watford side brimming with attacking intent fought back from two goals down at half-time to draw at home to Arsenal in Quique Sanchez Flores' first match since being reappointed Hornets manager. The hosts fired in 31 shots - a club-record for a Premier League game - as Arsenal's shaky defence finally cracked after the break. Watford levelled the scores when Roberto Pereyra rolled in a late penalty to secure only their second point of the season. Tom Cleverley had earlier reduced the deficit when Gunners defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos gave away possession inside his own area. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the visitors in front when he collected Sead Kolasinac's pass on the turn before firing past Ben Foster. Arsenal doubled their lead as Aubemeyang finished a sweeping team move but the hosts improved after the break as the Gunners unravelled in front of the vociferous home support. This was evident as early as the 10th minute as the red and white shirts backed off and space opened up for Cleverley, whose fierce effort was well saved by Bernd Leno. Five minutes later, and Etienne Capoue was given the same time and space but could only shoot over the bar. The Gunners want to play out from the back, and even though Matteo Guendouzi lost possession deep inside his own half on two occasions they persisted with their approach. It was Sokratis who eventually made the mistake that always looked likely to happen, before Deulofeu diverted the ball into Cleverley's path for Watford's first goal. David Luiz was brought in from London rivals Chelsea to shore up the defence over the summer, but the Brazilian has endured a difficult few weeks at the start of his Arsenal career, and has now conceded two penalties in three matches. Luiz brought down Pereyra with a lunge in the final 10 minutes and the substitute stepped up himself to take the penalty and salvage a point for the hosts. Watford welcomed Sanchez Flores for his second spell in charge at Vicarage Road with a bright start as they looked to impose themselves on the visitors. They were in the ascendancy before going behind against the run of play as Will Hughes was dispossessed inside the Arsenal half. Kolasinac burst down the other end and fed Aubemeyang to rifle home. Even after Aubemeyang doubled Arsenal's lead Watford still sensed the visitors' weakness was in playing out from the back and they crowded around Leno and his defenders, with the high press eventually leading to Sokratis' mistake. The record 31 shots Watford produced was also a record for Arsenal, who have never faced more shots since Opta began collecting records. The problem for Watford is that only 10 of their shots were on target and the return of injured talisman Troy Deeney cannot come soon enough they look to climb away from the bottom of the table. Match Details Pereyra |goals2 = Aubameyang |stadium = Vicarage Road, London |attendance = 21,360 |referee = Anthony Taylor }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} Match Stats Match Stats= {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- !width=130|Overall !width=70|Watford !width=70|Arsenal |- !scope=row|Goals scored |2||2 |- !scope=row|Total shots |31||7 |- !scope=row|Shots on target |10||4 |- !scope=row|Ball possession |52%||48% |- !scope=row|Corner kicks |7||1 |- !scope=row|Fouls committed |14||4 See also *2019-20 Premier League: Match day 5 External links * Match report at BBC.co.uk * Match report at Premier League.com Category:2019-20 Match Day info Category:Watford F.C. matches Category:Arsenal F.C. matches Category:2019–20 Premier League Matches